Budget SessionPrez address to Parliament
to be defensive in tenor
New Delhi, February 15
The formation of a JPC to probe the 2G Spectrum scam did not figure at the meeting of the Union Cabinet today with the government giving enough hints beforehand to the Opposition that it has now virtually remained a formality.

India looks forward to talks with PakistanNew Delhi, February 15Though New Delhi believes the dropping of Shah Mehmud Qureshi as the Foreign Minister of Pakistan is an internal matter of the neighbouring country, policy makers at South Block are keenly monitoring the developments in Islamabad related with the formation of the new Cabinet.

Wage Board Report
Newspapers would go out of business: INS
New Delhi, February 15
Several newspaper establishments would be driven out of business if the government decides to accept the recommendations of the National Wage Boards for Working Journalists and Other Newspaper Employees, warned the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) in a communication to Union Minister of Labour and Employment Mallikarjun Kharge.

Punjab home to 30,000 deserted NRI brides
New Delhi, February 15
Punjab has about 30,000 ‘Nowhere Brides’ — the coinage often used to describe the women are deserted by their NRI husbands. And the count has been rising steadily. The findings were made public at a seminar organised by the National Commission for Women here today.

Kerala Cong MP booked for bribery remark against judge
Thiruvananthapuram/Bangalore, February 15
Congress MP K Sudhakaran was today charged by the Kerala Police with concealing design to commit crime in connection with his startling claim that he was witness to a Supreme Court judge allegedly being bribed 15 years ago.

Heal thy hand, HC tell docs
Chandigarh, February 15
The Punjab and Haryana High Court wants government doctors in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh to find a cure for their illegible handwriting.

Guidelines for gyms, spas out
Implementation to be voluntary, initially
New Delhi, February 15
The government today issued guidelines for defining the road map for the industry as well as accreditation of wellness centres, including ayurvedic wellness centres, spas, skincare centres, gymnasiums, yoga and preventive health care centres, to promote the concept of wellness tourism in the country.

Armed Forces Tribunal takes justice to ex-servicemen’s doorstep
Circuit benches to start soon in Shimla, Jammu & Srinagar
Chandigarh, February 15
Taking justice virtually to the doorstep of ex-servicemen living in remote areas, the Chandigarh bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal is setting up circuit benches at
Shimla, Jammu and Srinagar.

Oldest Ashok Chakra recipient dies
Guwahati, February 15
Lieutenant Colonel Man Bahadur Rai, the oldest surviving recipient of the Ashok Chakra, the highest peace time gallantry award, passed away at the age of 95 years at Jorhat last night, according to information provided by Assam Rifles authority. His last rites were performed today.

Bryan Adams at his Mumbai concert. — PTI

Bryan Adams’ Delhi concert put off
ROCK SHOCK: Cops deny security clearance; fans sulk
New Delhi, February 15
Thousands of fans of Bryan Adams, who were left heartbroken after his gig in the capital scheduled for today evening was called off due to the absence of no-objection certification from the Delhi police, may cheer up!
An official of the Netsurf Entertainment, which had organised the show, said in the evening that they were working to finalise a new date and venue for the event. Some sources said the event could take place as early as next week but the organisers have not announced any new date.

defence deals
Antony assures fair procurement process
New Delhi, February 15
Viewing seriously the leakage of a report on trials of a US gun system that India plans to buy, Defence Minister AK Antony on Tuesday sounded a note of caution to officials dealing with such matters amid assertion that no manipulation would be allowed in the procurement procedures.

Budget Session
Prez address to Parliament to be defensive in tenorAnita Katyal
Our Political Correspondent

New Delhi, February 15
When President Pratibha Patil outlines the UPA Government's policies and programmes for the coming year in her address to the joint sitting of Parliament on the opening day of the Budget session of Parliament on February 21, the speech will provide more explanations than answers.

New Delhi: Under fire from the Opposition for the string of scams that have hit the UPA government in recent months, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has decided to clear the air in a special interaction with television journalists on Wednesday. The freewheeling question and answer session, being held days before what promises to be a tough Parliament session for the government, will be telecast live on news channels. —
TNS

Pushed on the backfoot on the twin issues of corruption and inflation, the tone and the tenor of the address is essentially defensive as an embattled government seeks to regain lost public confidence by holding out an assurance of transparency and accountability in governance.

The address was approved by the Union Cabinet at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh this morning.

Despondent UPA ministers admitted that the Presidential address, which generally paints an optimistic picture about the government's past achievements and future plans, has basically defended the Centre on the various allegations of corruption which have hit the ruling dispensation in recent months. Although each ministry and department has given details about its coming programmes, the basic tone and tenor of the address remains explanatory, said UPA sources.

Predictably, the speech has dwelt at length on how a firm and determined government has taken swift action in the various scams and scandals which surfaced recently and that it will not shy away from punishing the guilty. There are references to the 2G Spectrum scam, the Commonwealth Games controversy, the Adarsh Housing Society fiasco and the black money revelations but there is no mention of the ISRO-Devas agreement, which has personally hit the Prime Minister.

Taking off the resolution adopted at the AICC session at Burari last year and Congress president Sonia Gandhi's blueprint on tackling corruption, the Presidential address speaks of the government's "purposeful" resolve to tackle the menace of corruption. The address refers to the group of ministers which has been set up to look into all measures to tackle corruption and the two bills on judicial accountability and the protection of whistle blowers, which have already been introduced in Parliament.

Similarly, the spurt in food prices, which has pushed up inflation, also finds a lengthy mention in the address with the government offering explanations on the measures it has already put in place to deal with this serious issue and its future strategy to promote inclusive growth. If the burning issue of corruption has dented the UPA government's image, the ruling dispensation is also under attack over its inability to curb inflation, which has hit the common man and undermined its "aam admi" agenda.

Addressing the second annual conference of secretaries recently, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said corruption strikes at the roots of good governance and this "menace" dents the country's image internationally and demeans it before its own people. It also impedes faster growth and dilutes efforts at social inclusion, he added. "This is a challenge which has to be faced frontally, boldly and quickly," he had told the gathering of the country's top bureaucrats.

The Presidential address will set the tone for the lengthy Budget session of Parliament which promises to be another stormy affair as the opposition is bracing to put the government on the mat on corruption even through the UPA has virtually conceded its demand for a JPC on the 2G Spectrum scam.

The General Budget is to be presented to Lok Sabha on February 28 by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and the railway budget will be placed in the lower house on February 25. The first half of the session is up to March 16 and the second from April 4 to April 21.

New Delhi, February 15
Though New Delhi believes the dropping of Shah Mehmud Qureshi as the Foreign Minister of Pakistan is an internal matter of the neighbouring country, policy makers at South Block are keenly monitoring the developments in Islamabad related with the formation of the new Cabinet.

India is quite confident that the exit of Qureshi from the key portfolio will not affect the fate of proposed talks between the two countries on all outstanding issues, expected to start next month.

Home Secretary GK Pillai is likely to contact his Pakistani counterpart soon and invite him to New Delhi for talks on counter-terrorism, including the progress of the trial in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.

The understanding reached between the two countries recently in Thimphu was that top officials of the two countries would hold talks on various issues, followed by a visit to New Delhi by Qureshi in July to review the progress in the dialogue with External Affairs Minister SM Krishna.

Until a day before the new ministers were administered oaths of office and secrecy in Islamabad, the establishment in New Delhi was quite sure that Qureshi would be back as the foreign minister, notwithstanding the changes that President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani might effect in other portfolios.

Official sources here said while they would not hazard a guess if Pakistan would have a full-fledged foreign minister soon, they see no problem in dealing with anyone who is in charge of the foreign ministry in Islamabad. Hina Rabbani Khan has been appointed the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in Pakistan.

Qureshi has now sought to project himself as a “martyr”, saying he had to pay the price for taking a principled stand by not agreeing to grant diplomatic immunity to American “diplomat” Raymond Davis, who is in detention in Pakistan for killing two Pakistanis.

New Delhi, February 15
Several newspaper establishments would be driven out of business if the government decides to accept the recommendations of the National Wage Boards for Working Journalists and Other Newspaper Employees, warned the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) in a communication to Union Minister of Labour and Employment Mallikarjun Kharge.

The wage boards, headed by Justice GR Majithia, had recently recommended to the government an increase in the basic salary by more than two times the present basic salary, introduction of variable pay, an increase in medical allowance and re-fixing the age of superannuation at 65.

INS president Kundan R Vyas stated that the Justice Majithia report was “severely flawed and utterly one-sided”. The INS is the central organisation of the Press in India and has over 600 newspapers as its members.

In his communication addressed to the Union Minister, Vyas also stated that the report was submitted to the government without prior consultations among members of the wage boards. The report had also recommended measures that were beyond its terms of reference and scope, he added.

The wage boards, said Vyas, had been improperly constituted and the report had been prepared in breach of several rules and time-tested procedures. The boards also failed to carry out analysis of any credible financial data to determine the paying capacity of different classes of publications. No effort had been made to assess the burden on the newspaper industry either. Above all, the wage boards had not cared to publish tentative proposals, as was done by earlier boards, he stated.

According to media reports, the Labour Ministry has prepared a Cabinet note on the subject and is awaiting the opinion of various ministries, including the Union Ministries of Law, Information and Broadcasting and the Ministry of Company Affairs.

Meanwhile, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Ambika Soni had recently assured unions that her ministry was keen to get the recommendations implemented at the earliest.

New Delhi, February 15
Punjab has about 30,000 ‘Nowhere Brides’ — the coinage often used to describe the women are deserted by their NRI husbands. And the count has been rising steadily. The findings were made public at a seminar organised by the National Commission for Women here today.

Such cases of women getting trapped in fraudulent marriages with overseas Indians are prevalent throughout the country, but the issue is of grave concern in Punjab — the state where settling abroad is synonymous with every household.

At the seminar, a note was circulated among the participants whereby Punjab has called upon the Centre to constitute a new comprehensive legislation on such marriages so that legal remedies were in place for such brides.

The participants at the seminar, held to discuss issues related to NRI marriages, demanded that NRIs settled abroad and holding Indian passports should be made accountable under a special law.

“Special courts without legislation would have no meaningful purpose. A composite NRI law of marriage, divorce and maintenance, child custody and settlement of matrimonial property now needs to be enacted,” Punjab has urged the Centre.

Besides, the state also wants a review of existing laws so as to widen the scope for providing effective remedies in fraudulent cases of NRI marriages. “The Passport Act 1967 and rules made thereunder should contain special provisions for the cancellation of the passport of an offending NRI spouse if he is an Indian Passport Holder. Likewise, the Citizenship Act 1955 can entail penalties for matrimonial fraud,” it said

Chandigarh lawyer Ranjit Malhotra, a panelist at the seminar, said there were 15,000 such “deserted” brides in Doaba (Punjab) region alone. “In the absence of an adequate legal framework and awareness to protect their interests, the number of deserted NRI brides and high-end divorce cases is only rising.”

Dealing specifically with such cases, Malhotra said that in order to counter the problem, registration of marriages, which is optional under Hindu Family laws, should be made compulsory.

Union Women and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath conceded that a separate legislation for NRI cases would
take some more time as it required more in-depth study.

NCW chairperson Girija Vyas has also written to the government to consider bilateral agreements with countries like the US and the UK where NRI brides landed in difficult situations as divorces were obtained by their husbands while taking advantage of easy separation laws there.

The commission is also pushing for India to exercise its rights under Article 10 of the Hague Convention of 1968, which clarifies that nations were not bound by judgments taken in other countries, especially if they ran contrary to their own laws.

Thiruvananthapuram/Bangalore, February 15
Congress MP K Sudhakaran was today charged by the Kerala Police with concealing design to commit crime in connection with his startling claim that he was witness to a Supreme Court judge allegedly being bribed 15 years ago.

The Museum police registered the case against Sudhakaran on a complaint by a lawyers’ forum in Thiruvananthapuram, which alleged his speech at a public meeting few days back amounted to insulting the judiciary.

Union Law Minister M Veerappa Moily disapproved of Sudhakaran's remarks saying such allegations could make people lose confidence in the judiciary.

Sudhakaran's sensational speech at Kottarakkara in Kollam district last Saturday has sparked a huge controversy in political and legal circles. The Congress has distanced itself from Sudhakaran's adverse remarks, holding that the party was against any attempt that would dent judiciary's credibility.

Sudhakaran, a former state minister who now represents Kannur in the Lok Sabha, had made the charge without naming the judge at the meeting organised by supporters of R Balakrishna Pillai, who was recently sentenced to one-year rigorous imprisonment by the Supreme Court in a corruption case.

Moily said: “You cannot pass remarks (against judiciary) that will bring the institution to disrepute. The judiciary is very important. We have taken all 62 years... many pains and agonies people have suffered, to build this institution,” he said.

“You will have to be very careful, whoever it is, be it a minister, MP or anybody. While making comments on people who occupy the highest office, let them not forget what that they are doing is making people to lose confidence in those institutions” Moily asserted.

“Individuals are not important, institutions are important. It is necessary for us to nurture and also rebuild the credibility of the institutions,” he said. — PTI

Chandigarh, February 15
The Punjab and Haryana High Court wants government doctors in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh to find a cure for their illegible handwriting.

A Division Bench of the high court has, in fact, reminded the doctors that they do not scrawl on documents for self consumption; and has even asked the directors of health services in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh to ensure the element of legibility is injected into their handwriting.

Sadly, the doctors are under the impression that they scribble something on certain documents only for their personal consumption, forgetting for a moment that they are virtually in the process of preparation of public records that would be exhibited in future before
a competent court of law.

— HC Division Bench

The first-of-its-kind directions by the Division Bench of Justice Satish Kumar Mittal and M. Jeyapaul came during the hearing of an appeal filed by a convict in a double murder case.

Dismissing the appeal of the murderer of his wife and daughter, the Bench asserted: “We are able to properly appreciate the nuances of law and solve intricate problems with our experience in our background. But, quite unfortunately, we are unable to decipher the scribbling of the doctors found on public documents.” In its detailed order, the Bench added: “Sadly, the doctors are under the impression that they scribble something on certain documents only for their personal consumption, forgetting for a moment that they are virtually in the process of preparation of public records that would be exhibited in future before a competent court of law.”

Before parting with the order, the Bench asserted: “Therefore, we are constrained to direct the directors of health services in the states of Punjab and Haryana, as well as the Union Territory of Chandigarh, to issue suitable directions to the doctors to prepare documents - medico-legal reports, bed head sheets and post-mortem reports - legibly and scrupulously, as those documents are exhibited to decide the fate of a case before the court of law.”

The Bench also directed the High Court Registry that the copies of the orders be sent to the director, health services, of the two states and the UT, for issuance of appropriate directions in the matter.

New Delhi, February 15
The government today issued guidelines for defining the road map for the industry as well as accreditation of wellness centres, including ayurvedic wellness centres, spas, skincare centres, gymnasiums, yoga and preventive health care centres, to promote the concept of wellness tourism in the country.

The guidelines relate to various aspects of functioning of wellness centres like identifying and correcting unhygienic service-delivery practices and laying down a system for continuous monitoring of quality of services being provided.

Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahai said the guidelines, to be initially implemented on voluntary basis, would be applicable to all wellness centres across the country. He said India had an ancient heritage of healing but was facing severe competition from several destinations who were positioning themselves as leading destinations for wellness tourism. “We should put our acts together and promote wellness tourism aggressively in the international and domestic markets,” he added.

The accreditation standards are prepared by National Accreditation Standards for Hospitals and Health Care Providers and approved by Department of AYUSH.

The standards focus on all aspects of service delivery like customer rights and education, infection control practices, trained and experienced staff, infrastructure, environment safety, processes and controls and statutory and regulatory compliances.

Taking note of mushrooming of massage parlours, Sahai said, “There should be a mechanism to check whether all prescribed norms are being followed or not.”

On the implementation of guidelines, he said, “I think it should be mandatory as we are dealing directly with tourists and they should have good experience. But initially we are seeking voluntary implementation. Later on, we may opt for enforcing the guidelines.” However, only the accredited service providers would be eligible for any assistance from the Tourism Ministry. The ministry is developing Haridwar, Rishikesh and Puducherry as wellness destinations.

Chandigarh, February 15
Taking justice virtually to the doorstep of ex-servicemen living in remote areas, the Chandigarh bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal is setting up circuit benches at Shimla, Jammu and Srinagar.

These benches, which would function according to a pre-defined rotational schedule, would cater to veterans from Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir who find it difficult to travel all the way to Chandigarh for justice.

This is the first bench amongst the Tribunal’s nine, including the principal bench at New Delhi, to establish circuit benches. “We have received sanction for the circuit bench from the defence ministry. Justice Ghanshyam Prashad, head of the Chandigarh bench, and Lt Gen NS Brar would be visiting Shimla next week to work out the modalities for the circuit bench’s functioning,” an AFT official said.

The circuit bench is expected to become functional at Shimla in a month’s time, followed by Jammu and thereafter Srinagar. Benches will be functional at all three places by June. Members of existing benches at Chandigarh would station themselves at respective stations for a fixed number of days a month to hear cases from that region.

The Chandigarh bench, which has been in existence for over a year, has jurisdiction over the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal, Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh.

All litigation pertaining to armed forces personnel pending before the high courts of these states is to be transferred to this bench. So far, about 2,600 matters, including transfer cases as well as fresh filing have been listed before it, out of which about 1,400 have been disposed off. Close to 80 per cent of the cases pertain to pension and disability benefits.

AFT officials state that about 40-odd cases from Himachal have come in while the figure is negligible in the case of J&K, even though these states have significant serving and retired personnel.

Guwahati, February 15
Lieutenant Colonel Man Bahadur Rai, the oldest surviving recipient of the Ashok Chakra, the highest peace time gallantry award, passed away at the age of 95 years at Jorhat last night, according to information provided by Assam Rifles authority. His last rites were performed today.

He had served in 8 Assam Rifles during the tumultuous era of the sixties. He was awarded the Ashok Chakra in 1961 for his gallant action against insurgents in Nagaland, where he led a platoon through two hostile positions into the insurgents’ stronghold.

New Delhi, February 15
Thousands of fans of Bryan Adams, who were left heartbroken after his gig in the capital scheduled for today evening was called off due to the absence of no-objection certification from the Delhi police, may cheer up!

An official of the Netsurf Entertainment, which had organised the show, said in the evening that they were working to finalise a new date and venue for the event. Some sources said the event could take place as early as next week but the organisers have not announced any new date.

He said those who bought the tickets for concert could keep it for the new date or seek refund if they wanted.

The refusal of the Delhi police and the fire department to issue a no-objection certificate (NOC) to the Bryan Adams concert combined with rain had forced the organisers of the sell-out event to call it off today, disappointing thousands of fans of the much-celebrated rock star who had booked tickets much in advance to watch him performing in the Capital.

The denial of clearance by the Delhi police on security grounds yesterday had almost doomed the chances of the event being held today, but Netsurf Entertainment continued to put up a brave face till this afternoon and claimed they were in talks with the authorities to get the mandatory clearances.

The police, however, insisted that the organisers had sold tickets much in excess of the capacity of the venue, NSIC ground in Okhla, and issued too many passes to the VIPs.

Rain came as a face-saver for the organisers who projected rough weather as an excuse for cancelling the event while soft-pedaling the security reasons.

“The police have cancelled the New Delhi concert tonight due to public safety,” Adams wrote on Twitter. “I can’t believe it. I have been dreaming for the last few nights of watching him sing those crazy songs. I am completely heartbroken,” Amit Mehra, a fan, wrote on
Facebook.

New Delhi, February 15
Viewing seriously the leakage of a report on trials of a US gun system that India plans to buy, Defence Minister AK Antony on Tuesday sounded a note of caution to officials dealing with such matters amid assertion that no manipulation would be allowed in the procurement procedures.

He noted that Army has ordered an inquiry into the alleged leak of the secret report that contained assessment of the trial of ultra-light Howitzer M-777 artillery guns which the government proposes to procure from the US. “The Army has ordered an inquiry at the highest level. We will find the truth,” Antony told reporters on the sidelines of function here. He, however, asked the officials to remain careful during the acquisition process as there was an increasing competition in defence deals. “Today, we have a lot of competition (among companies wanting to sell equipment to India)… We have to very careful,” he said.

Asked whether there was any timeline for completion of probe into leak of Howitzer trial report, Antony said: “The report came only a few days back. The Army is doing inquiry... they are very serious and we will not allow any manipulation at any level."

He said, “Whenever there is a leak or mistake, we are taking action against it. Proper action is always taken.Transparency will be maintained at every level. There is a pucca (fool-proof) system". Earlier, fears of corporate meddling by international companies in defence deals have been raised. At the just concluded Aero India show at Bangalore, IAF chief Air Chief Marshall PV Naik had expressed fears that the loser in the $11-billion fighter aircraft deal could “put spokes in the wheel”. A total of six international companies are in the fray.

Army Gen: Won't fight Naxals
Raipur: The Army has no intentions to take part in anti-Naxal operations in Bastar though it is setting up a training centre here, a top officer said on Tuesday. Lt Gen VK Ahluwalia, GOC-in-C, told reporters that the Chhattisgarh Government had offered land to the Army for the centre. "It is for training purposes only," he said. —
PTI

Rahat's visa
to be extended
New Delhi: The visa of Pakistani Sufi singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan has expired and the government will extend it to enable investigation into the alleged recovery of $1.24 lakh from him and his troupe members at the IGI airport here. "We hope that post-February 17 there could be adjudication proceedings and that the matter would be resolved," Union Home Secretary GK Pillai said on Tuesday. —
PTI

Charges framed against IM men
New Delhi: A Delhi court has framed charges against suspected Indian Mujahideen terrorist Shahzad Ahmed, involved in a gunbattle with a Delhi police team at Batla House here in 2008, paving the way for start of trial against him. The encounter had taken place on September 19, 2008, six days after serial terror blasts rocked Delhi, killing 26 persons and injuring 135 others. —
PTI

Tihar Jail joins Facebook
New Delhi: The country's biggest jail -- Tihar Prisons - on Tuesday joined the IT bandwagon by logging in to social networking site Facebook. Sunil Gupta, spokesperson and law officer, Tihar Jail, said that the site would be used to inform the public about new plans and initiatives and activities being undertaken inside the prison. The jail's page ID is Central Jail Tihar. — PTI

Pension after 40 yrs
Thane: More than four decades after their retirement, nearly a dozen former IAF personnel can now hope to get their pension within three months. The Armed Forces Tribunal has asked the government to work out their due amounts. — PTI

Guidelines for gyms and spas issued
New Delhi: The government on Tuesday issued guidelines for defining the road map for the industry as well as accreditation of wellness
centres, including ayurvedic wellness centres, spas, skincare centres, gymnasiums, yoga and preventive health care
centres, to promote the concept of wellness tourism in the country. — TNS